1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an airbag system and inflating and deploying method of the airbag, provided in a vehicle, more particularly to an occupant knee protection system for a vehicle (knee airbag system) which protects occupant's knees by inflating and deploying an airbag (sometimes called as a gas bag), which is folded and stored in a part of the vehicle, in front of the occupant's knees by gas supplied from an inflator.
2. Description of the Related Art
A related art of the occupant knee protection system for a vehicle is disclosed in, for example, the Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 11-321539. This publication discloses an occupant knee protection system for a vehicle in which opposed wall portions (front wall portion and rear wall portion) of an airbag are connected via connecting means so as to suppress the shape change of the airbag in a case the occupant's knees smash into the airbag.